A scene from Sandman issue 1, available in The Annotated Sandman from Titan Books priced £37.99

Stardust and American Gods writer Neil Gaiman announced at San Diego Comic Con that he’ll be returning to the mythology that not only kicked off his career, but ushered in a whole new mature, modern age for comic-books.

“When I finished writing The Sandman,” began Gaiman via video link at the DC Vertigo panel at SDCC. “There was one tale still untold. The story of what had happened to Morpheus to allow him to be so easily captured in The Sandman #1, and why he was returned from far away, exhausted beyond imagining, and dressed for war. It was a story that we discussed telling for The Sandman‘s 20th anniversary… but the time got away from us. And now, with The Sandman‘s 25th anniversary year coming up, I’m delighted, and nervous, that that story is finally going to be told.”

“There’s nothing like a Neil Gaiman story,” said DC Vertigo’s long running executive editor Karen Berger, “and there’s nothing like having Neil back home on The Sandman, his dark, soulful, literary epic that transformed comics and continues to captivate countless new readers year after year. Working with him again, and with JH Williams, the extraordinary and groundbreaking artist, is truly the stuff dreams are made of.”

DC Entertainment Co-Publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio added, “As accomplished as Neil Gaiman is in other media – whether it be novels, film and even music – he still has an incredible passion and love for comics. It’s exciting to have him back. JH Williams will be the perfect complement to Neil’s writing. He has a history of creating art that pushes the boundaries of the medium.”